>> can i say, i totally accept the manner in which my friend put his remarks. it is with deep regret that i received many letters in my post condemning this legislation from people who share the same values, christian ideals that i share on a sunday morning. i know them to be caring, loving, and understanding people. they have been poisoned by an important debate in regard to bestiality and homophobia. let's return to a discussion to what marriage ought to be about. when i married my wife, our marriage had two important dime -- dimensions. the expression of love and of course a commitment to raise children. it is the case that a gay men and women can raise children. this house made that decision.

the jesus i know had a death warrant on his name and was born in a barn among animals. he would stand up for minorities. that is right. >> next, president obama and congressional leaders to take part in the annual national prayer breakfast. after that, a house hearing on the future of the federal housing administration. and "q&a" with author amity shlaes. >> tomorrow, representatives of the defense industry, health care, and environment hold a news conference on how to stop sequestration. that is live at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span2. >> what you might expect from samsung, given the breadth of products we have, tablets,

televisions, computers, one of the areas we are investing in is this multi-screen connectivity. we are already seeing consumers multi-tasking. your honor tv but you are also texting and your phone or looking at the internet and your tablet. how do we link those devices to each other? had we link them to the clout or the internet? one very good example is the galaxy camera. we launched the camera last year, and the camera is now built in with internet connectivity, so you can take photos where you go and instantly through a wireless network upload them to a website or social media service. it is bringing wireless connectivity to a camera. linking products like that, lincoln and to the internet and to each other, that is a big opportunity for us. >> the future of consumer technology with samsung vp for strategy david steel from this

year's ces show. >> president obama and congressional leaders spoke about faith in public life at this year's fellowship foundation national prayer breakfast in washington. the national prayer breakfast dates back to 1953 with president eisenhower. otheralso hear from guests. this is 90 minutes. ♪ [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and mrs. michelle obama.

♪ [applause]

>> a good morning. we have had a wonderful time together to discuss issues and had a joyful time together. we thank you for your attention. mark, is overwhelming -- you can all have a seat, i'm sorry. please have a seat. >> you never know. >> it is overwhelming to think of the pathway that each person took to get to this event today.

some from little villages halfway around the world, and some from the 12 blocks away. thank you all for coming. this year's event, which has taken place for 61 years now, began with a group of people who happen to be leaders wanting to get together for breakfast and prayer. one thing i know for sure is that life is complicated and is likely to get more complicated tomorrow and yesterday, but as members of the weekly senate prayer breakfast group, we learned that taking time each week to meet and takeoff disguises that we wear and pray and share our lives together makes life better. in the modern world and especially in a city like this, there are thousands of things that drive us apart.

>> politics, ideology, and even religion -- but today, we come together in the spirit of jesus who told us to love one another, treat others as we would want to be treated, and to love god with all our heart, soul, and strength. it would be a better world did we just listened to him. >> as you look around the world, understand your sharing this meal with people from more than 160 countries. all 50 states, presidents, heads of state, leaders of all kinds -- through prayer, we believe god has brought us together for a reason. as you listen, try to figure out what god is saying to you. >> as you heard, this event is hosted by members of the house and senate. i would like to ask all the members of the house and senate to stand at this time. [applause]

we are also honored to be joined by two prime ministers, the prime minister of serbia, his excellency, and the prime minister of the democratic republic of congo, his excellency. thank you so much for being here with us. [applause] >> now i would like to introduce the head table that will lead us through this experience. i will start on my right. today, you can say you ate breakfast with the president and a gold medalist. at the end of our program, our clothes and will be offered by

olympic champion gabrielle douglas -- [applause] -- whose new book is a properly subtitled, "my leap of faith." next to her is a former u.s. senator elizabeth dole. [applause] elizabeth was our breakfast speaker 26 years ago. she will give a reading from the holy scriptures. next to her as california representative at janice hahn. [applause] next year she will be standing in my place here. then have adel and mrs. jonathan greener. he is the u.s. chief of naval operations, which puts him in charge of about 300,000

sailors, 300 ships, and a 3500 aircraft. he will offer a prayer for our national leaders. [applause] next we have the spouse of my cochair, mary sessions. [applause] please join me in welcoming the pension -- the passionate, principled, and principled first lady of the united states, first lady michelle obama. [applause] continuing down the table, we have our friend and former colleague, the good vice- president of the united states, joe biden. [applause] on the other side of our speaker is my colleague and friend chuck

schumer. he is the cry of -- the pride of ps 197 in brooklyn. he has been a member of the senate for over 30 years scripps -- years. [applause] next to him as a former colleague of ours, the u.s. secretary of the interior, ken salazar. [applause] in his day job, ten is responsible for more than 500 million acres of united states inland. he is the former chair of this senate breakfast and will be offering a prayer for world leaders. next to him is janice hahn us sidekick for the next year, louie gohmert -- janice hahn's sidekick for the next year,

louie gohmert. then our guest from italy, andrea, and our soloist, andrea bocelli. [applause] he sold more than 80 million records worldwide. last time i read in addition to songwriting, he plays nine instruments. this morning, he will play the most beautiful instrument god has created, the human voice. join me in welcoming our soloist, andrea but chellie -- bocelli. [applause]

♪ [singing in italian]

♪

[applause] >> good morning. in the jewish tradition, we are given and not only an english name, but hebron name.

my hebrew name is isaiah. i was honored when mark asked me to read from the book of isaiah. this is isaiah 55:6-13. 6 the lord while he may be found. call on him while he is near. let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. but then turned to the lord said that he may have mercy on them. to our god, for he will freely pardoned. for my thoughts are not your thoughts. neither are your ways my ways, declares the lord. as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways. my thoughts, then your thoughts. as the rain and snow come down from the heavens and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and

flourish, so that it yields seed for the seller and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth. it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what i desire and achieve the purpose for which i send it. he will go out in joy and delight for it in peace. the mountains and hills will burst into song before you. all the trees of the fields will clap their hands. instead of the thorn bush, we will grow the juniper. instead of briars, a merkel will grow. this will be for the lord's renown. an everlasting sign that will endure forever.

>> is such a pleasure to be here. it is such a pleasure to share our thursday morning prayer breakfast with you. my co-chair is janice hahn. you can come on up here, a partner. it is a surprise for some people, after this it -- after they see the way we go back and forth in debate, that when it comes to the prayer breakfast, it is truly bipartisan. we work together, play together, and there is something that brings people together when you are playing together. it is the belief in the power of prayer. my wife and i tried to teach that to our three girls. when they were old enough to pray, kathy and i would gather around one of the girls beds with our three girls and we would pray each night. one night, we had nose spray

that a doctor prescribed for our little daughter caroline, and she had serious sinus programs -- problems. she did not want it, but i was bigger than her. we got it up brno's. there was a lot of crying, gnashing of teeth, but once the nose spray had been administered and the tears subsided, when we gathered four pairs, kaity played first, then the carolina, and caroline finished her prayer by saying, and please god, help sarah, little one, mind her own business and quit being such a pass and helper to leave me and kaity alone. little sarah answered, and in our little angelic voice she said, please god, help daddy stick more madison up caroline's knows. [laughter]

we taught them how to pray, but not necessarily what it was for. on thursday mornings we gathered not to pray that god will help us stick something of our opponents and those -- opponents' noses, but we pray f or mending and healing and blessing and leadership. it is a beautiful thing to see those come together. it does make us better. it makes us stronger. it makes the government work better. which is why benjamin franklin, in his own words, said in the beginning, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room. our prayers were heard. there were graciously answered. janice and i and our other colleagues have seen the prayers answered.

it is what brings us together. thank you for joining with us today. [applause] >> thank you, and good morning, mr. president, madam first lady, mr. vice-president, senators, distinguished guests. i am so delighted to be here this morning with all of you. it is such an honor to co-chair the house congressional prayer breakfast with my friends and colleagues, especially congressman at louie gohmert. this is the only chairmanship speaker boehner cannot remove him from for bad behavior. [laughter] only god can do that. [laughter] today's breakfast offers an opportunity for us to set aside political labels and come

together to be inspired and pray for the critical issues that are facing our nation and the world. i was elected to congress in the middle of one of the most bitter, rancorous, and divided. it's in our nation's history. in the midst of that, there was one place where i found out where we could set aside our partisan bickering and our differences and come together, a place where once a week we could be there for each other with our god, a place, that place was the weekly congressional prayer breakfast. i found some unlikely friends in that breakfast. [laughter] they have helped me to be a better member of congress and to better serve as my god and my constituents. the faith has always been a

strong part about -- about my life and my story. a drop in the church. my grandparents or missionaries to japan. my grand -- my grandmother on my father's side, in a moment of helplessness, turned to god in help of raising her seven little boys under the age of 10 when her husband died suddenly. that decision that my grandmother had made helped me to find my journey of faith. every week, when a member of congress comes to our prayer breakfast and tells their own journey of face, it gives us a bond that cannot be broken. we believe in the power of prayer. every week, we give thanks when god has answered our prayers. abraham lincoln said, "i have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that i had nowhere

else to go. my own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day." may we all continue to believe that our own wisdom is insufficient. god bless you all. [applause] >> good morning, mr. president, mrs. obama, vice-president, senators, congressmen, distinguished guests, many times, many of you have said to those of us that where the cloth of the nation, thank you for your service. on behalf of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and

coastguardsman, may i say thank you or your service and your support for your armed services. please join me in a prayer for our national leaders. o lord, we come before you today thankful for the many blessings you have bestowed upon our nation. we humbly ask for your continued guidance and strength. on this day, we are reminded to give thanks for the extraordinary freedoms we have enjoyed made possible by the efforts of past generations of men and women who have served this great nation. your word tells us of king david was willingness to place his faith in you during difficult times serves as an example for us all. like david, there are many in this nation who have answered the call to serve, both in and out of uniform. lord, we are thankful for their dedication, their passion, their

perseverance, and the families that support their every effort. when it comes to our search for inspiration, scripture clearly speaks about where we should begin charting our course. we begin with prayer. we ask that you continue to guide our leaders with wisdom and understanding as they weather the storms that confront our nation. provide them with the vision necessary to see the way ahead, the strength to act on debacle decisions, and the compassion to care for the well being of those that they lead. fortified the result of the men and women who lead our great nation, -- fortify the resolve of the men and women who lead this great nation. in your coleen name we pray, and then -- holy name we pray, amen. [applause]

>> mr. president, mrs. obama, mr. vice president, honored guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege today to read selected portions of heber's 11, which has been called the hall of faith. i will end with heber's 12 -- hebrews 12. faith is being sure of what we hope for uncertain of what we do not see. by faith, we understand that the universe was formed at god's command said that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. without faith, it is impossible to please god. anybody who comes to him just believed that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

by faith, no luck, warned about things not seen, in colli fear, guilt and arc to save his family. by faith, abraham, even though he was past age and sarah herself was baron, was enabled to become a father because he considered him a faithful who had made the promise. by faith, abraham, when god tested him, offered isaac as a sacrifice. he who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though god had said to him, it is through isaac that cured -- that you'rr spring will be reckoned. he did receive isaac back from death. by faith, isaac blessed jacob and esau in regards to their future.

by faith, jacob and bless each of gio six sons and worshipped as he leaned upon the top of his staff. by faith, josep, when his aunt was a hint -- was near, spoke about the exodus of israelites from egypt. by faith, moses's parents him for three months after he was born because they saw that he was no ordinary child and they were not afraid of the king's edicts. by faith, moses, when he had grown up, refused being -- to be known as the son of the pharaoh's daughter. pi faith, he left egypt, not fearing the kings entered. he persevered because he saw what was invisible. by faith, the people passed through the red see, as on dry land. by faith, the walls of jericho fell, and for the people that marched around them for seven days. by faith, the prostitute rahab, because she welcomed spies, was

not killed with those who were disobedient. what more shall i say? i do not have time to tell about gideon, samson, david, samuel, and the profits. -- the prophets. they administer justice and gained what was promised, a shut amounts of lyons, quenched the jury of flames, and escaped the edge of the sword whose weakness was turned to strength. others were tortured and refused to be released so that they might gain a better resurrection. some face years of flogging, while others were chained and put in prison. they were stoned. there were sought in two. there were put to death by the sword. these were all commended for their faith. therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great crowd of witnesses, to let us throw off everything that hinders and

ascend so easily and let us run with perseverance the race set before us. let us fix our eyes on jesus, the author and perfect or of our faith. for the joys set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of god. consider him who endured such opposition from simple men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be wholly -- holy, for without holiness, no one will see the lord. [applause]

>> mr. president, mrs. obama, vice president biden, members of the united states senate, found it -- the look cabinet members, members of the house of representatives, and distinguished guests, the following prayer was written by cesar chavez. last year, president obama visited the grave site of cesar chavez in a place in it la's, california -- la paz, california. he made the plaza marmion -- a monument so that we could follow -- so that we could honor him as a follower of christ. it was a moving time for the president and all of us who were there that day. chavez followed the teachings of jesus christ, ghandi, dr. martin luther king, and our lady

guadeloupe. today, as the world averages about in a debate about the peopling of our nation and immigration, and as our nation does the same thing, let us pray that our leaders, all of our world leaders, and all of our leaders in the united states, will be inspired by the true story of the peopling of our nations. gives voice to those who now lives in the fear of the shadows of our society so inspired by the life and teachings of st. francis and jesus christ, let us pray as cesar chavez and prayed as he fasted for those who had no voice, those who are most vulnerable in our society. show me the suffering of the most miserable so that i will

know my people's plight. free me to pray for others because you are present in every person. help me to take responsibility for my own life so that i can be free at last. grant me the courage, oph yes, -- oh yes, grant me the courage to serve others. give me honesty and patience so that i can work with others. bring forth a song and celebration so that the spirit will be alive among us. what the spirits flourish and grow -- let the spririts fortune gross that we may never tired. let us remember those who have died for justice because they have given us life.

help us love even those who hate us so we can change the world. god bless you, god bless the united states of america, god bless all of our leaders. [applause] >> of all the complex things in the world, perhaps the most complex is the human brain. how come i can remember the words to the preamble of the constitution but i cannot find my glasses? we have invited as our guest speaker this morning for three reasons the gentleman -- he loves jesus. he has a compelling life story. he is a distinguished man of healing. we hope he can help us sort some things out. may i introduce the director of pediatric neurosurgery at one of

the world's great hospitals, johns hopkins in baltimore, dr. benjamin carson senior. [applause] >> thank you. thank you so much. mr. president, mr. vice president, mrs. obama, distinguished guests, which includes everybody, thank you so much for this wonderful honor. to be at this stage again -- i was here 16 years ago -- the fact that they reminded me back -- invited me back was that i did not offend many people. i want to start by reading four text which will put into context what i will say. proverbs 11:9. with this month, we destroyed the neighbor.

myoverbs 11:12, a man tha understanding holds his tongue. a generous man will prosper. he too refreshes others with himself -- will themselves be refreshed. it is my people who are called by my name them -- called by my name who will seek my face and turned from their wicked ways. then will i hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their lamb. i have an opportunity to speak in a lot of avenues. this is my fourth speech this week. i have an opportunity to talk to a lot of people. i have been asking people, what concerns you? what are you most concerned about in terms of spirituality and the direction of our nation

and our world? i have talked to prominent democrats and republicans. i was surprised by the uniformity of the answers. those have informed my comments this morning. it is not my intention to offend anyone. i have discovered however in recent years that it is very difficult to speak to a large group of people and not offend somebody. people walk around with their feelings on the shoulders and waiting for you to say something -- they cannot hear anything else you say. the political correctness police are out in force at all times. i was talking to a record about the difference between the human brain and the dog's brain, and a man got offended. he said, you cannot talk about dogs like that. [laughter] he completely missed the point of what i was saying. we reached the point where people are afraid to actually

talk about what they want to say. somebody might be offended. people are afraid to say, merry christmas. it does not matter whether the person you're talking to is jewish or whether they are any religion. it is a salutation, a greeting of good will. we have got to get over the sensitivity. it keeps people from saying what they really believe. i am reminded of a very successful young businessman. he loved to buy his mother exotic gifts. he ran out of ideas. and he ran across these birds. these birds were cool. the cost $5,000 apiece. they could dance, talk, sing. he bought two of them. he sent them to his mother. he called her, what did you think of the birds? she said, there were good. [laughter] he said, no, mother, you didn't

eat the birds. the cost $5,000 apiece. the can sing, they can talk. she said, well, they should have said something. [laughter] that is where we are too if do not speak up for what we believe. [applause] what we mean to do in this political correct world is forget about it. we need to forget about unanimity of speech and thought. we need to concentrate on being respectful of those people with whom we disagree. that is when we begin to make real progress. one less thing about political correctness, which i think is a horrible thing -- i am very compassionate, and i'm never out to offend anybody. pc is dangerous.

freedom of thought, freedom of expression, it muzzles people. at the same time, it keeps people from discussing important issues while the fabric of this society is being changed. we cannot fall for that trip. what we need to do is start talking about things, things that are important. things that were important to the development of our nation. one of those things was education. i'm very passionate about education because it has made such a big difference in my life, but here we are at a time in the world, the information age, the age of technology, and yet, 30% of people who enter high school in this country do not graduate. 44% of people who start a four

year college program to not finish it in for four years. -- in four years. what is that about? 200 years ago, when slavery was going on, it was illegal to educate the slave, particularly to teach him to read. why do you think that was? when you educate a man, deliberate a man. there i was as a youngster, placing myself in the same situation that a horrible institution -- i was not taking the advantage of education. i was a horrible student. most of my classmates thought i was the stupidest person in the world. they called me dummy. it was a bad environment. a single-parent home, my mother and father had gotten divorced early on. a mother got married when she was 13. she was one of 24 children.

she had a horrible life. she discovered his husband -- her husband was a bigamist. she had to take care of us, in dire poverty, and i had a horrible temper. i had a poor self-esteem. all the things you think would preclude success. i had a mother, something very important, who believed in me. i had a mother would never allow yourself to be a victim, no matter what happened, she never made it spirit -- she never made excuses, and she never accepted excuses. she always said, you have a brain? if the answer was yes, and she said, you can think your way out of it. it does not matter what anybody else did or said, and it was the most important thing she did for my brother and myself. if you do not accept excuses, pretty soon, people stop giving them. the start looking for solutions.

that is a critical issue when it comes to success. we did live in dire poverty. one of the things i did was party. some people hate spiders, snakes -- i hated poverty. i cannot stand it. my mother cannot understand the fact that we were doing poorly in school. she asked god to give her wisdom, what could she give her young son to help develop his mind? the gate for the wisdom. a brother and i did not think it was wise. it was to turn off the television. lettuce only watched two or three television programs. we had to submit bug reports, that she cannot read, but we did not know that. [laughter] i hated this.

my friends were out having a good time. i would over here her friends, -- overhear her fire -- friends -- you cannot make those boys stay in and read. but i began to read about people of great accomplishments. as i read the stories, i began to see a connecting thread. i began to see that the person who has the most to do with you and what happens to you in life is you. you make decisions. you decide how much energy want to put behind your decisions. i came to understand that i had control of my own destiny. at that point, i did not hate poverty anymore. i knew it was only temporary. i knew i could change that.

to continue on the theme of education, in 1831, alexis day tocqueville came to america to study this country. europeans were fascinated. how could a fledgling nation be competing with them on virtually every level? this is impossible. the total was one to sort it out. he looked at our government -- cqueville was impressed. he said this is really something. he said, let me look at their education system. he was blown away. anybody finishing the second grade was completely literate. he could find a mountain man on the outskirts of society. he could have a political discussion. he could tell him how the government worked. take a look at the chapter on education in my latest group,

"america the beautiful," which a writ with my wife. in that chapter, you will see questions extracted from the sixth grade exit exam from the 1800's. i doubt most college graduates to they can pass the test. we have dumped things down to that level. the reason that is so dangerous is because the people who promised this nation said our system of government was designed for a well informed and educated populace. when they become less informed, they become vulnerable. think about that -- our system of government -- that is why the education is so vitally important. some people say, you are over blowing it. things are not bad. you are a doctor. why are you concerned about these things? i have got news for you.

five doctors signed the deck -- the declaration of independents. doctors were involved in the framing of the constitution, the bill of rights. it has only been in recent decades and we expected our cells, which i think is a big mistake. -- extracted our cells, which i think it's a mistake. -- ourselves, which i think it's a mistake. here's the thing about lawyers -- what do lawyers learn in law school? to win by hook or by crook. you've got all these democrats dollars and republican lawyers. -- lawyers and republican lawyers. we need to think about, how do we solve problems? [applause] before i get shot, let me

finish. [laughter] i do not like to bring the problems without coming up with solutions -- my wife and i started a college fund 16 years ago. that was after we heard about an international survey looking at the ability of eighth graders in 22 countries to solve math and science problems, and we cannot 21 up 22. that is very concerned. we would go into schools and we would see all these trophies for basketball and quarterback, -- and football. what about the intellectual superstars? national honor society, ok. a pat on the head, they're there, little nerd. -- there there, little nerd. [laughter] is it any surprise that they are afraid to hide? we started giving out

scholarships for superior academic performance and humanitarian quality. unless you care about other people, it doesn't matter how smart you are. we need smart people who care about other people. we would give them money. the money would go into a trust. the would get interest when they go to college. there would get the money. the school would also get a trophy. the traffic goes right up there with the others. they would get a metal. they would go to a banquet. -- a medal. they would go to a banquet. i have nothing against entertainment or athletics. i'm from baltimore, the ravens won. [laughter] but what will maintain our position in the world, the ability to solve a quadratic equations, or the ability to solve a 20 foot jump shot? need to put this in perspective. [applause]

many teachers have told us when we put a scholar in their classroom, the gpa of the whole class goes up. we have been very gratified. we started 16 years ago. we have given out more than 5000 scholarships. we also put in reading rooms. these are fascinating places that no kid can pass up. they get points for the amount of time they spend in their reading. they can trade them in for prizes. it does not take long before their academic performance begins to improve. we particularly target title one schools where kids come from homes with no books and-schools with no libraries. those are the ones that drop out. we need to truncate the process early on because we cannot afford to waste any of those people. for every one of those people -- [applause] that we keep from going down that path, that path to self

destruction and mediocrity, that is one more person you have to protect yourself and your family from. , one less to -- one less person you have to pay for in the welfare system. they are all important to us. we need every single one of them. [applause] when you go home tonight, please read about, the carson scholar. why is it so important that we educate our people? because we do not want to go down the same pathway as many other pinnacle nation's that have preceded us. i think particularly about ancient rome. very powerful, nobody could even challenge them militarily, but what happened to them? they destroyed themselves from within. moral decay, fiscal

irresponsibility, they destroy themselves. if you do not think that can happen to america, you get out your books and you start reading. we can fix it. why can we fix it? because we are smart. we have some of the most intellectually gifted people leaving our nation -- leading our nation. we need to remember our real responsible this so we can solve our problems. i think about these problems all the time. my role model was jesus. tell it --able's to to help people understand. [applause] one of our big problems right now -- i am not politically correct -- our deficit is a big problem. think about it. [applause]

our national debt, $16.50 trillion -- you think that as a lot of money? count one number per second, which you cannot do, because when you get 2000, it will take longer -- tuna how long it will take you? to count to $16 a trillion? 5000 years. --e is a parable